College rowing (United States)

Rowing is the oldest intercollegiate sport in the United States. In the 2002-03 school year there were 1,712 male and 6,690 female collegiate rowers, representing just over 2% of total college athletes.

Women's college rowing is sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), whereas men's is not.

Other governing bodies of college rowing in the United States are the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) and the American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA).

Collegiate men's rowing consists of two squads, a varsity and a freshman team. The varsity squad typically fields a Varsity Eight (8+), a Second Varsity or Junior Varsity Eight (8+) and a '"Freshman" (8+), but can also field additional Varsity or Frosh boats. The varsity eight is the most prestigious boat, and teams try to make it the fastest boat possible. Oarsmen who don't make the varsity eight are usually placed in the Second Varsity eight followed by the Third Varsity eight. The term 'Junior Varsity' as used in rowing is a historical misnomer. It is not a separate team or squad like a typical junior varsity team, but the substitutes for the varsity boat. Coaches often trade rowers between boats during the season trying to make the fastest Varsity 8 possible. Most major regattas use the term second varsity when referring to the second boat fielded by a college. Unlike most other sports freshmen are still considered to be their own squad on most competitive teams and work in a similar fashion to varsity with the Freshman 8+ being the priority boat for first years.

If a regatta has a point system for determining the overall champion, it is based on the showing of the Varsity 8, the Second Varsity 8, and the Freshman 8 plus other boats. The de facto national championship of Division I men's rowing is the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Championships, which between 1995 and 2008 was located on the Cooper River in Camden, New Jersey, around the end of May or beginning of June. Beginning with the 2009 regatta in Sacramento, the IRA Championships will be held on the West Coast every four years.

NCAA women's rowing is divided into three divisions with an official NCAA championship. Women rowers compete at the NCAA Rowing Championships in a Varsity 8, a Second Varsity 8, and a Varsity Four. Most teams also field one or more Novice Eights for novice rowers who have never competed at the collegiate level. Points are awarded for the overall championship based on the performance of those boats. Other head races and regattas such as Head of the Charles or the Pac-12 Championships allow a wide variety of competition in less-prominent boat classifications such as pair, sculls, and lightweight racing.

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